The UK Vape Tax, or as it’s officially known, the Vaping Products Duty (VPD) will take effect from the 1st October 2026. As of this date, ALL vape liquid, whether it contains nicotine or not, WILL be subject to a flat rate tax of £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid + 20% VAT which in effect equates to £2.64 for every 10ml.
Sadly, this is yet another massive blow to the vaping industry and vapers, this follows on from the earlier restrictions we faced after the Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) which was introduced in 2017 and the UK Disposable Ban in April 2025. The TPD law restricted the size of nicotine, containing e-liquid, to bottles to 10ml with a maximum strength of 20mg together with tank/pod size not exceeding 2ml capacity. The UK disposable ban, as the name suggests, prohibited the sale of a single use prefilled device that wasn’t rechargeable.
The UK, not so long ago, was a market leader in promoting Vaping as a smoking cessation tool and advocated it as being 95% safer than smoking. Those days are long gone and the measures the UK government have now introduced over the last year or so regarding the disposable ban and the Vape Tax are quite frankly absurd!
One has to ask the question….. Why impose a crippling tax on a product that is saving lives and is the only effective alternative to stop smoking. We are lead to believe the disposable ban was an environmental issue and the Vape Tax is to combat the rise in youth vaping, despite being illegal to sell a vape device to under 18’s. “Smoke and Mirrors” spring to mind and more likely has something to do with the loss of revenue from the declining cigarette sales?
Unfortunately this is not the last we will hear, as a “Flavor Ban” is imminent which will ban the thousands of different flavors of e-liquid to possibly just THREE or FOUR. I don’t think the current UK government will be happy until they completely destroy the vaping industry; the one proven smoking cessation tool that’s been extremely successful in helping cigarette smokers switch to a safer alternative.
What Does The UK Vape Tax Mean?
This new excise duty (£2.20 +VAT per 10ml) applies to ALL e-liquid and pre-filled vape devices that are intended for vaping and includes:
10ml flavored e-liquid bottles
Pre-filled pods
Big puff rechargeable devices that contain e-liquid
Shortfill bottles
Longfill bottles
10ml Nicotine shots
Initially this doesn’t sound excessive but when you look at the figures, a standard 60ml Shortfill bottle that contains 50ml of zero nicotine e-liquid will cost an additional £13.20. Prior to the UK Vape Tax, a standard shortfill bottle cost approximately £5, this is now going to cost £18.20!
If you look at some of the premium 60ml shortfills that typically cost in excess of £12 per bottle, these will now retail around £25 per bottle. Not forgetting you will need a nic shot to add to that bottle which instead of costing around £1 to £1.50 will now cost you nearer £4. All of this means a 60ml shortfill with 3mg nicotine will cost somewhere approaching £30.
Will PG. VG and Flavor Concentrates be included in the UK Vape Tax?
There is some uncertainty at the moment regarding other vape ingredients, such as Flavour Concentrates, Propylene Glycol (PG) and Vegetable Glycerine (VG). These products historically were used for DIY (home) e-liquid mixing but since Longfills and Bottle Shots have become more common, PG and VG are needed to dilute the flavour concentrate.
The UK Vape Tax / Vape Products Duty bill clearly states that ANY liquid used for the purpose of vaping or any manufacturer or retailer selling the produce as a vaping product will fall under this umbrella.
Does the UK Vape Tax cost increase with higher Nicotine Strength?
Strangely enough….No. Because the UK government have chosen a flat tax rate of £2.20 per 10ml of e-liquid over a tiered system, the price depends on the volume of liquid and not the nicotine strength.
Costs Before and After the UK Vape Tax
We’ve highlighted an approximate cost for each product item prior to the UK Vape Tax and the expected cost once the Vape Tax has been applied after the 1st October 2026:
Note: The new price and percentage increases with regards to Shortfill and Longfill bottles are for the stand-alone bottle including the contents it normally contains, i.e.:
1.A Shortfill bottle includes everything but NOT the nic shots. Nic shot(s) in most cases are included in the shortfill cost you pay. Add the new cost of the nic shot to the shortfill cost and you’re looking at nearer £29, which is a 142% increase for a 60ml shortfill.
2.A Longfill which only contains 20ml flavour concentrate, will also need base mix, which is PG/VG and nic shots to be added to make up the Longfill bottle. This could be subject to the UK Vape Tax. Previously adding base mix and nicotine to a 60ml Longfill bottle only added around another £1, however if base mix is included in the UK Vape Tax plus the cost of the nic shot, this could push the price to over £110!
If we factor in other vape ingredients such as flavour concentrates, PG and VG then we could potentially be in for a huge shock:
UK Vape Tax Summary
Basically, it STINKS! The UK Vape Tax which hits us on the 1st October 2026 is happening and it really is going to damage the vaping industry and e-liquid suppliers, not to mention cripple vapers with the ridiculous price hikes.
There is a 6 month window from 1st October to allow old stock to be sold but any new stock will have the UK Vape Tax applied. I would expect to see price increases very shortly after this date. All new e-liquid stock will then have to carry a duty stamp to show that the Vape Tax has been paid.
Hopefully PG and VG and to a lesser degree flavour concentrates don’t fall under the UK Vape Tax banner. This massive price increase could potentially cause untold damage when looking at new vapers wanting to quit cigarette smoking and exiting vapers chucking in the towel and going back to cigarettes.
As we all know, the black market is already flooded with counterfeit produce/products and when the UK Vape Tax comes into effect it’s only going to make things much WORSE and put many more lives at risk. I feel very strongly that this is a massive step backwards in effectively helping smokers quit cigarettes. I see no real evidence to back up the UK government’s decision to attack a product that really has saved thousands if not millions of lives already.
My parting comment has to be, keep vaping BUT do safeguard yourselves against the price increases and stock up on e-liquid supplies before they become unaffordable!